3catwoman3
3catwoman3's JournalPICC line questions - A new medical adventure is about to begin.
My 79 yr old husband, who is in basic good health, was hit by a car 2 weeks ago while on his brand new Trek bike for only the second time. Always wears a helmet, which likely saved his life. No head, neck, spine, or internal injuries. Unfortunately, the ambulance called to the scene took him to the local hospital nearest to us, which has a mediocre reputation.
A good way to get the hell scared out of you is to open your door to find 2 uniformed police officers who ask:
- "Are you (my name)?" Yes
- "Are you married to (my husband's name)?" Yes
And then trying to keep your mental finger off the panic button while waiting to hear the third thing they are going to say.
He does have a deep laceration behind his left knee, which has not been healing well - so much swelling that the sutures placed in the ER ripped out as the wound edges pulled apart. He is now in a local hospital I do like and trust, getting IV antibiotics while infectious disease (ID), plastic surgery and orthopedics consult on the best approach to get this gaping hole closed up. He will be getting a PICC line put in so he can get 4-6 weeks of big gun antibiotics delivered. Fortunately, there is an infusion center run by the ID specialist about 1.5 miles from our house, so getting the daily doses of the antibiotics should be pretty easy.
My long nurse practitioner career was strictly in outpatient pediatrics - well child care, growth and development questions, potty training and temper tantrums, ear infections and strep throat, school/camp/sports physicals, etc. No expertise in wound care or PICC lines.
My husband says the PICC line nurse who has spoken to him says he will not be allowed to shower the whole time the line is in. Yuck!
Anyway, looking for any tips, tricks, success stories from any DUers who have had experience with PICC lines, either as the patient or the caregiver.
Thanks!
If this is not the appropriate forum please tell me and I will move it.
Hell has frozen over in Illinois. Joe Walsh, far right one term former congressman...
...has joined the Democratic Party!
Talk about a 180. More like a 540.
Has anyone been to the Uranus Fudge Factory in Richmond IN?
On the way back to Illinois from Salem VA, where we went to attend a celebration of life for a dear friend, we spent the night in Richmond IN. We were very near The Uranus Fudge Factory, for which we had seen several billboards on our way to VA.
On the grounds of the factory is one of the biggest damn crucifixes I have ever seen. It look big enough to be the base of one of those giant windmills that you see so frequently in IN. The current owner of the business credits his success to God.
The fudge factory website is rife with phrases like "fudge packers," "We love to pack your fudge," and " It's time to spread Uranus even wider!"
Thanks to the Jack Nicholas movie As Good As It Gets, I learned the, shall we say, street meaning of the term "fudge packer."
I'm not a fundie religious prude at all (happily questioning agnostic UU), nor do I care what people do in the privacy of their own abodes. Nonetheless, I found the juxtaposition of the giant cross and gawd praise with the abundant use of variations of a slang term for a sex act very peculiar.
We did not tour the establishment.
Here's a link for those who might be curious. https://www.uranusgeneralstore.com/uranus-fudge/
Also, no matter which way you pronounce it, YOUR-ah-niss or Your-ANUS, it doesn't sound good. This poor planet needs a new name.
Question for parents of male dogs. Have any DUers had prosthetic testicles...
...placed in your male dogs after neutering them?
I first read about Neuticles several years ago, and thought, at first, that I was reading a satire site. Nope. Turns out there is at least one more brand, called NeuterNuts.
These products are said to "...ensure comfort and confidence," and "...support both emotional well-being and physical balance."
Do the dogs really care?
Edited to add - believe it or not, there are Neuticle earrings, for a mere $129.00. This is nuts (pun intended - 
https://neuticles.com/product/neuticles-earrings/?srsltid=AfmBOoq1GsRi-8_VYa9oTsz4bfR_p_imPsQkqZBA03Rrmf5ei_OxnT8C
Does Mr. "I know words. I have the best words," even know what sarcastic means?
When questioned by a reporter about his promise to end the Ukraine-Russia war one day 1, his reply was, "I was being sarcastic." He very often says that when called out on some boast or claim that goes unfulfilled. I don't think he knows what the word really means.
The way he uses it, it pretty much means "I was lying."
I would like someone to ask the ultra-rich exactly why...
...they need yet another tax cut. They already have more money than they could possibly spend in multiple lifetimes.
- Do you not have have a big enough house or enough big enough houses?
- Do you not have enough Jaguars, Maseratis, Lamboghinis or whatevers?
- Do you not have enough bespoke clothing or obscenely large diamonds?
- Do you not have a big enough yacht?
- Can you not travel wherever you want, whenever you want, and stay as long as you like?
- Is there a sports team, or media outlet, or a politician that you are prevented from owning?
- Is there anything that you cannot have or cannot do right now that having more money would allow you to have or do, and, if so, exactly what is that?
Piss off Trump, get primaried and lose your seat. Piss off your constituents...
...and lose your seat. Does it not occur to these chicken-shit legislators that if they make enough of their voters mad enough they may very likely lose their seats anyway?
Talk about suckers and losers.
Goodbye Heart(s) - with a nod to Ricky Nelson
When the fundraiser ends, I miss all the cheerful hearts at the bottom of our posts.
Hello, Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart(s)
Sometimes appendicitis is a good thing - the proverbial blessing in disguise.
In March of 2023, I developed appendicitis. Initial vague abdominal discomfort that initially felt like hunger pangs. Over several hours, the discomfort became more intense, and gradually began to localize to the classic RLQ (right lower quadrant) of my abdomen. Having pretty much diagnosed myself, I had my husband take me to the ER, where exam and tests confirmed my suspicion.
Because I was (and still am) taking Elixir, a blood thinner, because of atrial fibrillation, surgery had to be delayed for about 36 hours to let the Eliquis clear so I wouldn't bleed out on the table. During that wait, the appendix became gangrenous, despite being on 2 heavy duty antibiotics, so recovery was slow, and complicated by needing an NG (nasogastric tube) tube because my GI activity came to a complete halt. Finally home after 5 days, but with the AFib wildly out of control. Anaesthesia #1
Re-admitted a week later because of the AFib, and spent another week in the hospital. 2 attempts at external cardioversion under anaesthesia were unsuccessful. Home on more cardiac meds than I knew could be taken all at the same time. Anaesthesia #2
April 2023 - successful cardiac ablation to "zap" the over-active areas an the upper heart chamber. Anaesthesia #3
June 2023 - During the initial ER evaluation, the CAT scan showed an "incidental" finding of cysts on the distal (tail-end) portion of my pancreas. Those were biopsied, at which time there were no suspicious findings. Anaesthesia #4
Dec 2023 - follow up CAT scan showed one of the cysts changing from fluid-filled to solid looking, which is not what you want.
March 2023 - robotically-assisted, spleen-sparing distal pancreatectomy. My surgeon, at the University of Illinois/Chicago, is currently considered to be the world's leading robotic surgeon, so I was in very good hands. Diagnosis - pNET - pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. There were some malignant cells, but completely contained with no spread, and I was told emphatically by 2 different oncologists that there was absolutely no need for chemo, which was a huge relief. Anaesthesia #5 Starting to worry if I'm pushing my luck by having to be put under so many times. Uncomplicated recovery, and home after 5 days.
This kind of pancreatic tumor is completely different from adenocarcinoma, the kind of pancreatic cancer that is usually not diagnosed until really late and is the kind that took the lives of Alex Trebek and Patrick Swayze, and so many others. pNETs can progress but do not become adenocarcinoma.
Dec 2024 - routine follow up CAT scan showed a "plump" lymph node in my right lung, so, once more under anaesthesia for a biopsy. Numerous lymph nodes sampled, and all were clear. Anaesthesia #6 - enough already!
Anyway, the point of this long "organ recital" is that I am very grateful to my appendix for getting infected, because it made possible the incidental finding of the pancreatic cysts and ultimately the diagnosis of the pNET at the earliest possible stage when the management is just periodic surveillance. Hoping it stays that way.
I feel very lucky.
Magnificent piano duo concert - Ryan and Ryan, father and son.
This past Saturday, my husband and I, and 2 other couples, went to a concert at a local community college which has a pretty dynamic arts program.
The featured performers were a father and son, Donald and Barron Ryan. It was an evening of Gershwin. They played for over an hour, all from memory, and it was exhilarating. I actually had tears and goosebumps during their performance of Rhapsody in Blue. The word awesome is way overused, but these gentlemen were AWESOME!!!
I bought 2 of the 3 CDs they had available. I would have bought all 3, but 1 of them had all been sold by the time I got to the table. One of the two I did get has several Joplin rags, which I love.
Should this duo ever come to where you live, and you like piano music, I wholeheartedly recommend these masterful musicians.
Here are 2 YouTube links. The First is the Joplin piece Solace, which was featured in the wonderful movie The Sting, and the second is the iconic Rhapsody in Blue.
Profile Information
Name: MarthaGender: Female
Hometown: Rochester NY
Home country: USA
Current location: greater Chicago area
Member since: Thu May 17, 2012, 02:09 PM
Number of posts: 27,147